Electrochemical cells are finding ever-increasing use as power supplies for a large number of different applications. Examples of devices commonly run off of battery power include but are not limited to mobile electronic devices such as cell phones, laptop computers, and portable media players. The demand for increased power by these devices has resulted in the fabrication of electrochemical cells from a variety of materials arranged in different architectures.
Conventional approaches to the fabrication of electrochemical cells have formed the elements of an electrochemical cell (such as the anode, cathode, and electrolytic material) by depositing a series of layers. Commonly, these electrochemical cells are fabricated utilizing batch processes, utilizing separate chambers to deposit different layers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,592 describes an apparatus for the formation of thin-film batteries utilizing a substrate that is moved between two rolls. By rotating the rolls, the substrate is moved through a plurality of chambers, in which a film is deposited.
While the approach of the U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,592 may be effective to fabricate an electrochemical cell, it may offer certain disadvantages. One possible disadvantage is bulk, in that each of the films making up the electrochemical cell must be formed in a separate chamber. By allocating each fabrication step to a different chamber, the size of the apparatus is increased.
Moreover, by allocating the formation of each layer of the electrochemical cell to a different chamber, the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,592 may suffer from a lack of flexibility. Specifically, a change in the structure of the electrochemical cell requires a new device with different chambers to be created. Where batteries are to be formed from different materials or with different architectures, the conventional batch-type apparatuses may be impractical.
From the above, it is seen that cost effective and efficient techniques for manufacturing of semiconductor materials are desirable.